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Chop Wood | Carry Water | Play Gongs - Part 2

“This is the real secret of life -- to be completely engaged with what
you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work,
realize it is play.” ~ Alan Watts

In playing the Gong, it's often easy to get caught up in everything but being present. If you travel a lot, like I do, it's easy to complain to yourself about having to drive, then carrying the Gongs, carrying the stands, carrying the mallets and other tools you use. Yes, things can be bulky and heavy —you might have to go up stairs—but there is a joyous aspect of being able to do this.

The mundane leads to the profound.

~ Singal Rinpoche

When we can find the joy in the everyday, the mundane activities, it will lead us to even greater joys. Be open to these possibilities. There is also letting monkey mind take over, with us worrying about both the past and the future, while forgetting about the present. When we live in the present, there is no past, no future, just the moment. And by doing that, we are able to bring all of our focus onto what we are doing. The Gong becomes the center, becomes the stillness of the moment. The sound becomes all encompassing and separateness desolves:

we are the sound/the sound is us.

And the act of striking a Gong, stroking a Bowl, striking a Bell, is enough.

~MB

Chop Wood | Carry Water | Play Gongs

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